Detroit Mayor Offers $1,000 Homes To Cops, Firemen

In a bold offer that speaks volumes about Detroit’s housing market as well as its state of public safety, the city’s mayor has offered to provide homes for as little as $1,000 to police and firefighters.

CBS Detroit reports that the initiative, dubbed Project 14, could fill some vacant homes and provide a break to safety workers, more than half of which live in the suburbs.

Says the mayor:

“Project 14 is one approach that my administration is deploying to take two challenges facing Detroit — public safety and vacant homes — and turn them into an opportunity for neighborhood revitalization. There are steps that we can and must take today to improve the quality of life for our citizens. That’s why I am announcing Project 14 — an initiative designed to encourage Detroit Police officers to live in the communities in which they serve.”

Project 14 comes 12 years after the state legislature did away with a law that required Detroit cops to live within the city. The money won’t come from new tax dollars, but from neighborhood stabilization funding, HUD money and contributions from banks and credit unions.